Sea Worms - The Underwater Dungeon

Original Notes - Level 0 - Ooo'tut Surface Map - Surface Enc. -Level 1 -  Level 1 Map - Level 1 Enc.

When the players have capped the volcano and return to the Merpeople who guard the lungs, they are told that their next task will be to eliminate a family of Sea Worms that have a lair near a reservation for the Starmen's non-sentients. They send a group of dolphins to guide the 'Cuda to the spot where the lair is. What they don't tell the party is how many dragons there are and that there will be other creatures serving and guarding the dragons.

Their lair is located in an abandon terraforming complex originally called Under Water Tefnut Terraforming. This name was commonly written UWTuT or "Ooo'tut". There is little that is still working after 2K years underwater, but the rooms and some machinery still remains. These have been inhabited by numerous nasty creatures, but also millions of normal creatures. These beasts have adapted to life in total darkness during that period.

The facility is located in shallow (40' deep at the surface) water. The water is very warm (82 deg) but gets colder as players enter the levels below the surface. The spot was specially chosen as it was one of the most calm. There is a steady current going from NW to SE that can be strong at times (upon entering the water, roll 1d4=current MPH). The storms here bring heavy rain and high winds, but there is little or no disturbance below.

Use tropical shallow sea water encounters for all surface randomness. This encounter chart does not include non threatening encounters with fish. The waters in this area team with them! They come in all colors and the DM is encouraged to describe their wonders to what ever degree the party is willing to listen to. Descriptions of the fish should be intersperced with descriptions of the domes below.

First Contact
The players will first see a glimmer of light coming from Oootut. The power plant is still working and dozens of gas lights are still giving off light. This light mimics the lighting conditions above: Dim at night and bright during the day. As they can be seen from the surface and even from 200' overhead, they are quite bright. There is still considerable light still coming from the sky that reaches the area below, but without the artificial light the domes would have been gloomy and depressing which caused light depravation sickness until installed. All this light makes the area undersea look like a fairyland.
Everything is covered with layer upon layer of silt and muck. It sits on top of everything like fine tan snow. Walking through it makes clouds of slow settling silt rise up. All outlines are soft and rounded and there are no familiar shapes visible.

Level 0
This is the surface level. There are the remains of the buildings and domes of the underwater terraforming location. It's sister installation is the above ground one on Kano.
The 6" thick plasteel plastic dome is mostly broken with only a remnant around the edges of the domes.
The domes each had a different important function:
Dome 1
This dome contained the working areas. Construction, Food services and storage were the primary uses. It was left open to the dome for the most part with only the food service areas being roofed. As it is unlikely the players will be interested in this area (and indeed the DM should make this as uninteresting as possible) there is no detail of the interior layout. It is heavily inhabited by the normal underwater creatures.
Dome 2
This was the last dome constructed and was designed to be a world within a world for the workers here. It was designed to be
Dome 3



Underground Level 1 (Lair)
Room 1

Room 60


Above Ground Encounter Chart

Dice Score
Creature Encountered
01 -02
03-05
06-08 
09-12
13
14-17
18-1 9
20-22
23-26
27-28
29-34
35-37
38-41
42-46
47
48-49
50-51
52-54
55-56
57-58
59-60
61 -65
66
67-72
73-78
79-81
82
83
84
85-87
88-90
91
92 - 00
Barracuda
Crab, giant
Crayfish (lobster), giant
Dolphin
Eel, giant
Eel, weed
Elf, aquatic
Eye, floating
Hippocampus
lxitxachitl
Squidmen
Kopoacinth (gargoyle)
Sea Worm
Merman
Nymph
Ochre jelly
Octopus, giant
Port. man-0-war, giant
Ray, manta
Ray;pungi
Ray, sting
Sahuagin
Sea hag
Sea horse
Sea lion
Shark
Shark, giant
Snoke, sea
Squid, giant
Strangle weed
Triton
Turtle, giant, sea
DM Choice


Level 1 Encounters

Roll
 Encocunter
1-3
4-6
 Squidmen
Sea Worm

Squidmen

CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Salt water
FREQUENCY: Very rare
ORGANIZATION: Clans
ACTIVITY CYCLE: Any
DIET: Omnivore
INTELLIGENCE: Exceptional (15-16)
TREASURE: Special
ALIGNMENT: Lawful evil
NO. APPEARING: 1-12
ARMOR CLASS: 6 (body), 3 (Tenticle)
MOVEMENT:  Sw 18
HIT DICE: 7 (base)
THACO: 13 (at 7 HD)
NO. OF ATTACKS: 10 Tenticles, 2 Poison Tenticles, Beak
DAMAGE/ATTACKS: 1d4/1d2/2d10
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Grasping
SPECIAL DEFENSES: None
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Nil
SIZE: L (12' long w/6' tenticles)
MORALE: Fanatic (17-18) XP
VALUE: Variable

These creatures are the result of the genetic manipulation engaged in by the Under Water Tefnut Terraforming technicians. They were not considered complete when their work was interrupted by the Tech Wars preceeding the Dark Milenium. They thought to create a humanoid creature that could live and thrive underwater and breed true.  They were breeding true when the work stopped, but their form was not right (too much human still left) and they tended to go insane in their later years from pain caused by cerebral pressue that was not properly regulated.

They are smarter than the average human, but tend to be clannish and hostile to anyone not in their clan. They kill intruders with no questions asked. And thats their own race! All other creatures they consider food and kill them even more quickly.

Appearance:
They are flesh colored and look a horrible mixture of human and squid. Their body is squid shaped, but the fins at the back on the body look like the lower legs of a human flattened and squashed into fins. The tenticles look like normal squid tenticles for the most part. However, they are attached to the front of the creature by what look like upper human arms. From the 2' "arm" section sprout 5 tenticles. At the end of each tenticle are 5 more small (3") tenticles that allow them to grasp weapons and other items freely. At the front of the cone shaped body is a "face" with two human looking eyes and a sort of monkey muzzle. Inside this muzzle is the beak.

COMBAT:
They are terrible opponents. They can attack with each of their tenticles every round. If a tenticle strikes, it holds onto the opponent. Freeing a tenticle can be done with a strength roll and this may be repeated within one round until a failure occurs. So a person may free himself in one round as long as no strength rolls are lost. An attack may also be made as well as attempts to become free.
For every tenticle attached at the end of the characters actions, their AC is -1. Once most of the tenticles are attached, the prey will be brought toward the beak.
The creature also has two tenticles that are covered with contact posion. These cause paralisis in 1d3 rounds unless a ST vs Posion is made.

Sea Worms
CLIMATE/TERRAIN Tropical and subtropical seas
FREQUENCY: Rare
ORGANIZATION: solitary
ACTIVITY CYCLE: Any
DIET: omnivore
INTELLIGENCE: High (10-14)
TREASURE: Nil (Rx2)
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic Evil
NO. APPEARING 1-3
ARMOR CLASS 5
MOVEMENT: 9, Sw 18
HIT DICE Young (7-8 HD),  Adolescent 9-10 HD), Adult (11-12 HD),  Ancient (13-14 HD)
THACO  7-8 HD: 13, 9-10 HD 11, 11-12 HD 9, 13-14 HD: 7
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE ATTACK: 2d6 (bite) or 3d8 (constriction)
SPECIAL A’ITACKS
Breath weapon (sleep potion 3d8 rds)
Swallow (if adult or ancient)
SPECIAL DEFENSES Nil
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Nil
SIZE L 30' to 100' long, 12 to 24' diameter
MORALE Champion (15-16)
XP VALUE 7-8 HD 1,400

Sea wyrms are elongated legless and wingless sea dragons found in tropical and subtropical seas. Probably one of the sources for the tales of legendary sea serpents, these lazy creatures rarely attack anyone or anythmg not intrudlng on their territory. They are usually serene and majestic, often venturing quite close to land if left undisturbed. Occasionally, a family of sea wyrms will be seen traveling together by sailors who venture into deeper seas.
Combat Sea wyrms grow larger, but not particularly stronger, as they age; thus, the bite and constriction of a young sea wyrm are just as damaging as that of its elders. Though they are normally nonaggressive, sea wyrms will attack ships or creatures who invade what they consider to be their temtory. All sea wyrms can bite for 2d6 points of damage and constrict for 3d8 points. If attacking a ship, every 10 points of constriction damage acts as 1 hull point against the vessel. If the ship is smaller than the sea wyrm, the wyrm can completely enarcle the en& vessel, roll it over, and drag it beneath the waves. Because of this, they are greatly feared by fishermen and others who usually have smaller boats.
Adult and ancient sea wyrm have other attacks as well. If they make a bite attack and score 5 more than they need to hit, they have swallowed their prey whole. The victim takes normal damage (2d6) from the bite and an additional 2d6 paints of damage per round thereafter from stomach acids. The usual methds may be employed to escape from the creature’s stomach. At any time an adult or ancient sea wyrm may choose to forgo its normal attack and use its breath weapon instead. This is a cone of sleep potion 5 feet wide at the base, 30 feet wide at the far end, and reaching 30 feet. Those caught in the cone must save vs. breath weapon or fall asleep for 3 to 24) rounds. The wyrm can use this attack only once per turn.
Habitat & Society: Sea wyrms lair in underwater caves or in remote caves on islands. They can breathe equally well in air or water and move about on land by slithering like a snake. They eat just about anything but are particularly fond of fish and fruit. They have been known to slither around a fruit tree and constrict it in an attempt to get at fruit which is beyond their normal reach.
Sea wyrms live in small family groups until the hatchlings are old enough to forage for themselves. When three are found together, they are always a mated pair and a hatchling. Two sea wyrms found together are always a mated pair, as they mate for lie. The female produces one egg at a time, which is jealously guarded by both until the young sea wyrm hatches. If captured as hatchlings, sea wyrms make loyal and affectionate pets for sea peoples such as merfolk, tritons, or naids. willing to fight to the death to defend their companions. Ecology: Sea wyrms claim undersea or island caves for their lairs and defend the territory around it up to about two miles. They range up to 40 miles from home to feed. Though they produce no useful by-products, there is a growing market in sea wyrm eggs among traders who wish to raise a mobile guard to defend their ships while at sea. Some merchants deal in sea wyrm skins, which bring 1,000 to 3,000 gp.

ORIGINAL NOTES
I had titled this adventure "Sea Worms" and it involved a simple find and destroy mission against a family of dragons.
However, due to the changes in party dynamics due to the influx of njew players, something of a team building adventure is called for. They need to get together in a situation that deoes not split them up, but forces them to act as a group if not a military organization.

Thus this will be a classic dungeon adventure, with the interesting feature is it is all underwater. All the monsters will be fish of some sort (not to discount underwater plant monsters!). The traps will use water and air to create deadly traps. The thing that will make this so difficult will be their handicap of moving and fighting in the water.

The setup of the adv is the same. They are told to "eliminate" some water dragons. They are told to follow the dolphins (not the same ones, but the same basic attitude).  They will soon find the dragons only seldom rise out of their underwater lair to eill and raise havoc with all the nearby creatures including a "unborn reservation". This is an area where the star people (thinking starfish) take those of their race that do not start thinking. These unfortunates are taken to a reservation and watched over like sacred cows. The dragons have been using one of these reservations as a larder; snatching dozens of the harmless, helpless creatures at a time.